Restoration and Ecosystem Consequences of Changing Biodiversity

ISBN-13: 9783659346477 / Angielski / Miękka / 2013 / 68 str.

Santa-Regina Maria Del Carmen

Opis

Humans are altering the composition of biological communities through a variety of activities that increase rates of species invasions and species extinctions, at all scales, from local to global. These changes in components of the Earths biodiversity have a strong potential to alter ecosystem. Ecological experiments, observations, and theoretical developments show that ecosystem properties depend greatly on biodiversity in terms of the functional characteristics of organisms present in the ecosystem and the distribution and abundance of those organisms over space and time. Species effects act in concert with the effects of climate, resource availability, and disturbance regimes in influencing ecosystem properties. The scientific community has come to a broad consensus on many aspects of the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, including many points relevant to management of ecosystems. Further progress will require integration of knowledge about biotic and abiotic controls on ecosystem properties, how ecological communities are structured, and the forces driving species extinctions and invasions.

O autorze

María del Carmen Santa-Regina is a biologist studying consequences of changing biodiversity along secondary succession on ex-arable landsIgnacio Santa-Regina Ecologist studying the effects of experimental sowing on ecosystem primary production during recovery from agricultural abandonment.